Imagine
yourself on a huge open land with nothing to see
but grass. when you look down you see a parade of
little animals that almost look like squirrels.
These are the prairie dogs. They are named after
their dog-like yip.

If you have
seen one, you'll agree they look cute, with their
short legs and tails. Prairie dogs are cousins to
ground squirrels. They have light

brown fur with lighter underparts. Their tails are kind of
flat, usually with a black tip at the end. They have round
heads with large eyes and tiny round ears. The adults
usually weigh around 1 to 3 1/2 pounds There are two types
of prairie dogs; black-tailed and white-tailed. Most common
is the black-tailed prairie dog.

The prairie dogs
range from Canada to northern Mexico. The white-tailed
prairie dogs are found around the prairies
of southern Montana to northern Arizona. Prairie dogs live
together in a system of burrows called "towns". These towns
are broken up into family groups called "coteries". The
burrows usually have two or more entrances to bring in fresh
air and for quick escapes in times of trouble. Prairie dogs
don't like shrubby places because they can't see predators
coming. They will chew through tall weeds around their towns
so they can see farther. That is also why prairie dogs live
on the short grass prairies.

They come out or
their burrows during the day to eat. Their diets consist
mostly of grasses and herbs. Sounds a little boring, but
when they find them, they will also eat grasshoppers and
other small insects.

The black-tailed
prairie dog becomes mature at 2 years. They will mate in the
early spring, from February to March. The female is pregnant
for 34 to 37 days. There are 1 to 6 babies in a litter who
are born blind and hairless. They only have one litter a
year. The babies come out from the burrows after 5-6 weeks.
Until then their mother nurses them. Prairie dog females can
live up to 8 years, but the males only live to be 5
years.

The thing that is so
special about prairie dogs is that they are very social
animals. Kind of like teenage girls! They make their burrows
connecting to each other so they can visit anytime they
want. When they meet they will kiss and nuzzle each other.
They groom and play together and talk to each other by
yipping. If you were to ever see a prairie dog, its likely
it'll have a couple of friends with it.

They always have a
sentry at a couple of entrances who sits straight up to look
for predators. When they spot a predator they will bark out
a warning and everybody dives for their burrows. They will
wait for one of them to sound the all clear before going out
again.

Prairie dogs are
always busy at work. They work on their burrows from sunrise
to sunset. The only problem with this is that ranchers live
on the grassland too, and their cattle and livestock can
step into a burrow and break or twist its leg.

Prairie dogs play an
important role in the prairie. They are the major food
source for many predators. Their empty burrows are used by
the Burrowing Owl, the Texas Horned Lizard, the Black-footed
Ferret and rabbits and hares. They also cut down large weeds
and brush so they can see better. This keeps the prairies
from getting overgrown with trees.

In the old days
there was one huge prairie dog town that covered 25,000
square miles and had about 400 million prairie dogs in it.
Now the prairie dog is still common, but there are less than
1% of the prairie dogs and their habitats left. But
somewhere out there the prairie dog still roams the empty
plains where Laura Ingals lived. And if you find the right
place, you might spot a couple of heads peeking out from
under the ground, trying to get a glimpse of you.

by Lauren F.
2000.

bibliography:

World Book
Encyclopedia, 2 Scott Ferzer Company, 1983-1996 World
Book Inc.